


Guilty Lovers

by Pearl_Unplanned



Series: (We Loved 'Till the End) Cap_Ironman Bingo 2016  (2) [11]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Cap_Ironman Bingo, Established Relationship, Established Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, M/M, Minor Injuries (kind of), Stony Bingo, Tony Stark Is a Good Bro, Tony is a matchmaker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2017-08-20
Packaged: 2018-12-17 21:19:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11859876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pearl_Unplanned/pseuds/Pearl_Unplanned
Summary: Tony plays matchmaker for Clint and Bucky during a mission to retrieve weapons from Hydra. Things would've gone a lot easier had the townspeople nearby not have already met (and hated) the Winter Soldier as Hydra's Asset.





	Guilty Lovers

**Author's Note:**

> All of these next prompts are LATE and won't be counted as bingo prompts technically anymore, but I'm determined to finish this board while I work on my new one. This one's already got a story planned out, so I can't leave it unfinished.   
> Big thanks to everyone who's stuck around even after my long disappearance! I'm trying hard to get things back on track again. <3  
> Bingo 2016 (2) O1: Mistaken for Baddies

 

            "There's no _way_ that we're going to let them get all that technology out of this place," Tony said, trying to be as careful as he could as he bandaged up his teammate's leg. Clint winced in pain, gripping his bow tightly. "Sorry, Bruce is so much better at this..."

            "Bruce is on a mission," Clint pointed out, relaxing against the wall behind him once Tony was done. "Thanks... I didn't think they'd be shooting at _us_. Don't they know who the Avengers are?"

            Apparently Hydra was trying to do some international weapons dealing with some mad scientist dude, and one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had managed to intercept a message. All available Avengers were sent out to put a stop to it. Of course, that just meant being in a foreign country where no one spoke English made everything a _bit_ more difficult. And that was _before_ the townspeople starting shooting at them.

            "Apparently not," Tony muttered, offering a hand. Clint looked exhausted by now—they'd been fighting Hydra for quite a while, seeing how many agents they'd brought along, and once the villagers started firing they were forced to retreat. For the time being, at least.

            "At least they shot my leg, not my _arm_ ," Clint pointed out, grinning. Tony rolled his eyes. While he _loved_ how optimistic Clint was able to be—even after being _shot_ —he didn't _understand_ it. He was _angry_ right now because the townspeople were making it so much harder for them to stop international criminals, and somehow Clint was still smiling. While he wouldn't admit it to the archer, he was glad that he was still so happy.

            Tony flinched and prepared to fight off the enemy when someone opened the door to the room that they totally weren't _hiding_ in. He had enough time to grab his gauntlet and aim it at... Bucky. Breathing a sigh of relief, he lowered the repulsor before he shot at his friend.

            "You're hurt?" Bucky asked, hurrying over to Clint's side. He looked just as angry as Tony felt at the moment.

            Tony wandered over towards the doorway, meeting Steve partway so that he could hug him.

            "Just a flesh wound," Clint murmured, though he didn't seem to mind the attention that he was getting from the super-soldier. "I'm fine, Buck, really. What's up with these people? Do they really not know the Avengers?"

            "Actually, we think that it might... be because this town, once upon a time, um... met the Winter Soldier," Steve spoke up. The four of them had been sent out to take down Hydra, but because they needed to find out what Hydra was doing, Steve and Bucky went ahead. Tony wanted to go, but with his bright, shiny red and gold suit, he'd stand out a bit. (But then again, he tried arguing about Steve's bright red, white and blue suit...)

            "I... I don't remember," Bucky growled. Tony patted his shoulder. While he'd been remembering things from _before_ , he still didn't remember most of what he was forced to do as Hydra's Asset. They'd tried to help him as much as they could, but honestly Tony thought that Bucky was probably better off without the memories of him being an assassin. Of course, that didn't help when people came after Bucky for some personal vendetta, because there had been people who _had_ done that. Only Bucky had little to no memories of what he'd been forced to do in his past.

            "It's okay," Clint said, gripping his right hand tightly. "We'll just work around the townspeople. All we have to do is take Hydra down and get ahold of the weapons they're smuggling. S.H.I.E.L.D. is on the way, they'll help out."

            "They've got a _lot_ of technology over there," Steve reported. "I'm not sure if even _Hydra_ knows what most of it does, since they seemed a bit reluctant to touch it."

            "We've _got_ to get it away from them," Tony said, glancing out from between the boards in one of the windows. Hydra didn't seem to realize where they were hiding—he _hated_ hiding!—which gave them an advantage.

            "We should go do a sneak attack," Clint said. Steve had already started drawing a map in the dirt of where everything was.

            "You're not going _anywhere_ with that wounded leg," Bucky muttered, and Clint just rolled his eyes.

            "Quit being so _dramatic_. It's just a little flesh wound, I told you—I'm _fine_ ," Clint insisted, crossing his arms and huffing in anger.

            "He's only being overprotective because he cares," Tony said, kneeling down beside Steve so that he could see the plan that his boyfriend was sketching out. Clint's face turned red when Bucky didn't deny it and instead helped him down onto the ground so that they could plan.

            "I almost feel bad for the guy who made all of the tech," Steve said, drawing a little _x_ beyond where Hydra was keeping the tech as they tried to move it. "They locked him up, almost like they just wanted his work and then they were going to leave him for S.H.I.E.L.D. to lock up."

            "I don't feel bad for him. He's helping _Hydra_ ," Bucky muttered. One of his arms was hooked around Clint's waist to help him balance. "Let's just get this over with. The sooner, the better."

            "Clint, I know you don't want to hear this, but I want you to stay back quite a bit," Steve said, stopping the archer before he was able to argue. "You're a master at long-range already, and you're wounded. The frontline is _not_ where you'd be best right now, and you know it." Steve offered his friend a smile. "It's also pretty comforting knowing that you're watching our backs when we can't."

            Tony watched Clint's argument crumble before he could even make it, and he sighed dramatically. " _Fine_ , I guess you're right, Cap. I _do_ have the best aim in the world, after all."

            Bucky smirked and helped Clint over to the door. Tony hurried over to his suit. He'd only taken it off so that he'd be able to patch his friend up without worrying about hurting him. Instead of letting Bucky take Clint off to where he thought was best, Tony made sure to grab the archer and shoot off into the sky before Bucky could yell at him.

            "Where do you want to be?" Tony asked, muting his and Clint's comms. as they looked around for the best tactical location.

            "Right over there," Clint said, pointing to one of the larger trees that had a whole bunch of branches. It would provide good cover and a place for him to be able to balance a lot easier. "Why'd you mute the comms?"

            "I wanted to hear if Bucky's going to finally admit how much of a crush he's got on you or not," Tony said, making sure that Clint was completely steady so that he wouldn't be having to catch him if he fell from the tree.

            Clint's face turned bright red again, but now he had a hand up to his earpiece, too, intent on listening.

            Tony had designed the earpieces in a way that they'd constantly be transmitting sound, and if someone mentioned a specific name—or codename—those ones would be louder, or the volume would be increased if the earpiece was tapped. But regardless, the earpieces were almost _always_ transmitting sound.

            "You think he might be interested? I mean... I'd try arguing he's from the forties, but so's Steve, and he asked you out pretty quickly," Clint murmured, getting his bow and arrows ready before setting up his long-range icer guns.

            "I think he's very interested. He asks about you a lot in the lab, whenever you're not around. I've been trying to be encouraging, but... He's still got this idea in his head that because he was brainwashed and used as a weapon against the people he cares about, he must be a bad person who doesn't deserve to be happy," Tony said, hovering in front of Clint's setup. He opened one of the compartments in his left gauntlet, pulling out a little machine he'd made. His faceplate was still up, and he gave Clint a look. "Now, doesn't that sound familiar?"

            Clint just did the mature thing and stuck his tongue out at Tony. "I got over that, and I've been trying to help him past that, too. It's just not an easy road, you know?"

            "I can't imagine being brainwashed," Tony mumbled, making sure that his little machine was set up in front of Clint and his weapons. "I think you two would be good for one another. You might be able to bring some happiness back into his life—he can be pretty grumpy sometimes."

            Clint chuckled, making sure his weapons were all loaded. "Yeah, but so can everyone. You can't be happy all the time."

            _You can_ , Tony wanted to point out. But no, Clint had had a really rough time when the team first formed because he _had_ been forced to try and kill the Avengers, back when Loki had taken control of his mind. It had taken a while to befriend him because of that. Watching Clint go from depressed to overjoyed and energetic and the wonderful teammate he was today had been _inspiring_ —Tony knew exactly when Clint had gotten happy again. It was the moment he realized he had a team that cared about him.

            The sad thing was that, while Tony could see that it was the moment things started to get so much better for the archer, he hadn't realized that he didn't realize that the team cared about _him_ , too. But now... now things were better.

            "Things will get better," Tony said confidently, turning the rockets on his gauntlet to make them go faster as he attempted to strike the archer.

            There was a moment of surprise on Clint's face before the shield-generator that Tony made kicked in, stopping his punch long before it got close to Clint. He moved back, raising his hands before he shot a couple repulsor blasts, all deflected by the shield.

            "Good, it works," he said, grinning when Clint just glared at him.

            "When did you make that? I could've used that earlier!" Clint complained, crossing his arms.

            "It's only for when you're not moving. It's stuck in place, but as long as you stay here, you'll be completely fine," Tony explained. "It's a one-way shield. You can shoot out of it, but no one will be able to hit you. And you won't be able to move the shield, either. I'll have to disable it before we leave."

            Both Avengers froze when they heard Bucky and Steve mention Clint's name.

            _"I'm still waiting for you to ask him out,"_ Steve teased. _"I can tell how much you like him, Buck."_

_"That doesn't mean_ he _likes_ me _... I really have loved being able to be on this team, and make friends with everyone... I'm not ready to lose any friends,"_ Bucky replied. Tony smirked a little at how grumpy he sounded, though he could imagine the look on his face. He always got this _look_ whenever he was talking about Clint.

            _"I'm pretty sure you wouldn't lose him as a friend,"_ Steve pointed out. _"It really is worth it. I was nervous before I asked Tony out, and that was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I think you should ask."_

_"What am I supposed to do, just say 'hey Clint, I know I've never actually mentioned that I've got feelings for you before now, but do you want to go out to dinner on Friday?"_ Bucky asked, and while both Avengers knew that he was talking to Steve, that didn't stop them. Tony undid the mute on Clint's comm upon the archer's request.

            "Actually, Buck, that sounds like it would be a great way to ask me out," Clint said. Tony had never seen his face light up so much. "And if you really wanted to get an answer to that question, it would be 'Friday sounds perfect.'"

            There was a silence on the other end of the comms for a while before Bucky asked, _"Y-you were listening, this whole time?!"_

            "The comms are always on... you've been in battles with us before, Buck, you should know that," Tony said.

            _"But I... I thought they were off, I couldn't hear you guys,"_ Bucky gasped, and Tony could hear Steve snickering in the background. _"Really? You'd, uh, you'd want to go out... with me? Good. That just means you're not allowed to get hurt, ya hear me? That flesh wound better be it."_

"Tony's got me covered, don't worry," Clint said, muting his comm for a moment. "Thanks, Tony. I mean it. I-I know you've been telling me for a while... but hearing it..."

            "Makes it better, I know. Believe me," Tony said, giving him a thumbs-up as his faceplate flipped back down into place. "Just stay out of trouble, birdbrain."

            "Why is everyone so worried that I'm going to get hurt?" Clint asked as he unmuted his comm again. "I swear, you guys must just think I'm not capable of being on this team!"

            Tony laughed as he flew over towards where he was going to meet up with Steve and Bucky. He listened as Bucky tried to explain that he was only saying that 'cause he was worried, not because he didn't think Clint was able to handle himself. He could hear Clint laughing away at Bucky's distress.

            He was so happy for the both of them. He'd wanted his friends to be happy, it was all he really wanted for any of them! That's why he was still trying to hook Bruce and Natasha up—he could _see_ the way those two _really_ liked one another, yet somehow, even with Steve helping out, he hadn't managed to get them together.

            "You little punk," Bucky muttered, flipping Tony off when he landed beside the two super-soldiers.

            "I know you love me, Buck," Tony said, grinning. "Clint's been trying to get you to ask him for _weeks_ now, I was just speeding up the process. You two deserve to be just as happy as Steve and I are."

            As if to prove a point, Steve leaned over and gave Tony a quick kiss, a warm, knowing smile on his face. He wanted Clint and Bucky to be happy too. Everyone did.

            _"I would've said something... eventually,"_ Clint defended, though Tony knew that was a lie. Clint had trouble asking for things if it meant making himself happy. He was always trying to make _others_ happy.

            "We should get ready to take Hydra down before they just take the weapons and go," Steve said before Bucky was able to reply. "Tony, you and I should go right. Bucky, go left. Clint, keep an eye on Bucky, he'll be solo at the moment."

            "I can create a distraction," Tony suggested, faceplate flipping down. "You two can go in both sides and catch them off guard. And I agree, Clint—keep an eye on Bucky. And Steve. You've got two eyes, you can do it."

            _"I can do that,"_ Clint chuckled as Tony scooped Steve up into his arms, flying him off towards the right to get him into place.

            "Bucky, get as close as you can to Hydra before showing yourself. And keep enough distance so that they can't use any of the technology against you," Steve said, holding onto the suit. He must've trusted Tony to take him exactly where he needed to be, since he wasn't paying any attention to where they were going.

            _"Roger that,"_ Bucky said.

            "You ready to end this?" Tony asked, patting Steve's shoulder while he got his shield off his back.

            "Ready," he murmured, catching's the suit's arm long enough for Steve to press a kiss to the forehead of his helmet. "Don't get hurt. You're not allowed to play matchmaker and then go off and get hurt, because I plan on taking you out once we get back to the tower."

            "Lucky me," Tony said, grinning. "And maybe if I'm _really_ lucky, I'll get you tonight, too."

            _"I wish I didn't know that these things worked without directly speaking into them,"_ Clint groaned. _"Someone, just get this show on the road. I'm getting old sitting here doing_ nothing _!"_

            "Don't get your panties in a twist," Tony said, flying off to cause a distraction. And oh boy did he ever!

            The instant he was in the sky, Hydra started firing on him. They hadn't been expecting him to show up right there, and they weren't exactly prepared for him, to say the least. Tony swooped down closer, blasting a couple of repulsor blasts at their big guns to knock them out and make sure that they couldn't hurt either of the super-soldiers.

            _"Now?"_ Steve asked.

            "Not yet," Tony replied. "One more big gun, once that's gone, then you two can show yourselves."

            There was no way that he was going to let his teammates get hurt because he didn't destroy the big guns—the ones that could _kill_ them. He had armor on, he'd be fine. Swooping down once more with eyes only on the big gun, Tony ignored the little bots that were chasing after him. It only took a moment or two for Clint to shoot all of the flying robots from his long-range spot. A couple of high-powered blasts were enough to destroy the last big gun, and the moment that it was gone, both super-soldiers came in and started taking down the Hydra agents.

            Leaving them to handle the agents, Tony flew over to where they were loading up all of the technology, scanning it to try to see if it was dangerous or not. Some of the weapons were powered with alien technology, but most of it was just unknown machines that didn't seem to have much of a purpose at all.

            "Iron Man," the scientist in the cage shouted, and Tony looked over at him. "Iron Man, you have to let me out! They blackmailed me, I swear. A lot of that stuff is dangerous. Iron Man!"

            Ignoring him, Tony started disabling some of the more destructive stuff—after all, some of these were big laser canons and Chitauri-inspired tech. Hydra could do some real damage with it.

            Tony flinched when he heard gunshots. Those were _not_ the laser gunshot weapons that Hydra used, the ones that could cause burning and sometimes deadly wounds. No, those were just normal guns being fired. Glancing over at the commotion, he saw a group of the townspeople shooting at both Hydra and the two super-soldiers, who looked a bit shocked that they were being attacked, too.

            "Hey, calm down," Tony shouted, flying over in front of the townsfolk. They turned their attention to him but quickly found out that their guns weren't able to damage his suit. "We're the good guys here—we're just trying to stop Hydra!"

            "You're nothing more than a group of _murderers_ ," one of the people shouted, and Tony was thankful that Clint took out the Hydra agent who decided that he needed to attack the untrained (yet armed) townsfolk instead of the superheroes.

            "The Hydra agents are only being knocked out, not killed," Tony replied, though he knew that this battle wasn't what they were talking about. It was the ex-assassin they were talking about. It was the mind-controlled Avenger they were talking about. It was the soldier they were talking about. It was the _merchant of death_ they were talking about. They were all guilty, and they'd all done things they regretted.

            "Stand down," Tony said, trying his best to copy Steve's commanding 'Captain America' voice, "or else you might get hurt."

            "Is that a threat?" one person asked. Sometimes Tony really didn't want to protect people.

            "No, it's a warning," he muttered, flying over to check on his teammates. Everything had gone quiet, and he noticed that Steve was trying to check on Bucky, who just looked pissed off.

            "It's a gunshot wound, Steve. That's all," Bucky growled, trying to push him away. Tony could hear Clint telling Bucky to stay away from the townspeople because he didn't think it would be a good idea to ice any of them.

            "Call S.H.I.E.L.D.," Tony told Steve, who looked like he wanted to argue. He looked back and forth between Tony and Bucky for a second before he nodded and walked a few steps away to alert S.H.I.E.L.D. to come pick up the weapons. Turning his attention to Bucky, Tony crossed his arms. "A gunshot wound is a gunshot wound, Buck. Both you and Clint are getting locked in medical for a while. Now quit covering it—let me see how bad it is."

            _"Listen to Tony,"_ Clint added, and Bucky sighed.

            "Fine," he muttered. The bullet had ripped all of the way through him, but luckily hadn’t hit anything vital. Whatever kind of gun those people had been using could've been really fatal. "Good? It's not that bad, and I'm not gonna bleed out. By the time I get to medical it won't be as bad. Perks of being a super-soldier."

            "They're on their way," Steve said as he walked back over. "Bucky, I want you over by the weapons. Make sure that the scientist doesn't get out. I'm going to see if I can calm these people down. Tony, could you go get Clint?"

            He nodded before blasting off into the sky again, not surprised that one startled person decided to shoot at him. Flying back over to where he'd left Clint, he hovered in front of the air as Jarvis disabled the shield.

            "I'm dragging Bucky to medical myself," Clint muttered, slinging the rifle over his shoulder and making sure the strap was tight before he was ready to be moved. Tony put the little machine back into his suit before he grabbed Clint and flew him over to the Hydra jet, making sure that his suit was always between Clint and the townsfolk. There was no way his friend was getting shot again, not on his watch.

            Leaving Clint to scold Bucky about going to medical, Tony headed back over to where Steve was trying to calm the people down.

            "And if you were forced to do something against your control, would _you_ be held responsible for that?" Steve demanded, looking like he was about to fight the guy.

            "I'd still get in trouble for what I do when I'm drunk," the guy pointed out, and Tony was barely able to hold his boyfriend back from punching the guy.

            "He was _tortured and brainwashed_ ," Steve spat. "He wasn't _drunk_. I'm sure you're not the image of perfection either, but we're not locking _you_ up for it! Next time _you_ get tortured for decades, you can tell me about—"

            "What he means to say," Tony said, stepping in, "is that the Winter Soldier is an Avenger, and if you attack any of the Avengers again you will be escorted by a government agency to jail, where you'll be kept for shooting at another human and also for shooting at an agent of the law. Do I make myself clear?"

            The angry people seemed to understand just how serious he was, and most of them were gone by the time S.H.I.E.L.D. showed up to lock up Hydra.

            "Thanks," Steve murmured, leaning against Tony. "I shouldn't have gotten mad, but they..."

            "I heard what they said," Tony replied, smirking a little when he watched Clint try to drag Bucky over to the S.H.I.E.L.D. jet. At some point in time Clint's leg must've been acting up, because Bucky lifted him up off the ground bridal style, and Tony didn't even need his earpiece in to hear Clint complaining _loudly_ at him about how he could walk and it wasn't that bad. "You know that they're wrong, right?"

            "I know," Steve mumbled, sighing. "They don't know him, they don't know any of us. But it still hurts, you know?"

            _You're nothing more than a group of murderers._ "I know."

            "I'm still planning on taking you out once we get back to the tower," Steve said, giving Tony a devious smirk. That look did bad things to Tony. "I was thinking a little fine dining and then we could get some dessert at home. What do you say?"

            Tony made sure that his back was to S.H.I.E.L.D. so that he could lift his faceplate. "A little fine dining? Is cheeseburgers fine dining enough?"

            Steve's devious look morphed into a wide smile. There was no doubt that he was thinking the same thing, because he knew Tony all too well. "That sounds great."


End file.
